1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications. More particularly, the disclosure relates to rate prediction in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of Related Art
Wireless communication systems are often configured as a network of wireless base stations communicating with one or more mobile wireless terminals. Each of the wireless base stations can operate in a unique environment relative to any of the other base stations. For example, a base station can be configured to support a metropolitan coverage area having numerous high rise buildings with a high density of potential users. Another base station coupled to the same communication network can be configured to support a relatively sparsely populated coverage area that is substantially void of terrain variations that can affect the signal quality. Similarly, a first wireless base station can be configured to support a coverage area that includes numerous potential interfering sources, while a second base station can be configured to support a coverage area largely void of interfering sources.
Signal quality experienced by a particular user terminal within a base station coverage area can also vary based on a physical as well as an electrical environment. Mobile user terminals can experience signal degradation such as Doppler and fading that can be attributable the velocity and location of the user terminal as well as the configuration of the surrounding environment.
Therefore, each user terminal in a wireless communication system can experience unique operating conditions that affect the quality of the signals communicated between the user terminal and an associated base station. The base stations and user terminals typically prefer to communicate over a high bandwidth communication link. However, not all user terminals or base stations will be able to support the same information bandwidth because of the differences in operating conditions.
A wireless communication system may also allow the user terminals to handoff between base stations. In a handoff situation, the user terminal in handoff may not be able to support the same information bandwidth with the base stations involved in the handoff. Ideally, the user terminal hands off to a base station that is capable of supporting the same or higher information bandwidth. However, handoffs can be initiated for reasons other than improved communications. For example, a user terminal can handoff between base stations due to changes in location. That is, a user terminal can travel from a coverage area of a first base station to a coverage area of a second base station. The second base station may only have the ability to support a lower information bandwidth due to fading and interference experienced by the user terminal.